CICS has stopped running

There are three main reasons why CICS® might unexpectedly stop running:
  1. There could be a CICS system abend.
  2. CICS could be in a wait state. In other words, it could have stalled.
  3. A program could be in a tight loop.

Consider, too, the possibility that CICS might still be running, but only slowly. Be certain that there is no activity at all before carrying out the checks in this section. If CICS is running slowly, you probably have a performance problem. If so, read CICS is running slowly to confirm this before going on to Dealing with performance problems for advice about what to do next.

If CICS has stopped running, look for any message that might explain the situation. The message might appear in either of the following places:
  • The MVS console. Look for any message saying that the CICS job has abnormally terminated. If you find one, it means that a CICS system abend has occurred and that CICS is no longer running. In such a case, you need to examine the CSMT log (see below) to see which abend message has been written there.

    If you do not find any explanatory message on the MVS console, check in the CSMT log to see if anything has been written there.

  • The CSMT log. CSMT is the transient data destination to which abend messages are written. If you find a message there, use the CMAC transaction or look in CICS messages to make sure there has been a CICS system abend.

    If you see only a transaction abend message in the CSMT log, that will not account for CICS itself not running, and you should not classify the problem as an abend. A faulty transaction could hold CICS up, perhaps indefinitely, but CICS would resume work again if the transaction abended.

Here are two examples of messages that might accompany CICS system abends, and which you would find on the CSMT log:

DFHST0001 applid An abend (code aaa/bbbb) has occurred at offset X'offset' in module modname.

DFHSR0601 Program interrupt occurred with system task taskid in control

If you get either of these messages, or any others for which the system action is to terminate CICS, turn to Dealing with CICS system abends for advice on what to do next.

If you can find no message saying that CICS has terminated, it is likely that the CICS system is in a wait state, or that some program is in a tight loop and not returning control to CICS. These two possibilities are dealt with in Dealing with waits and Dealing with loops, respectively.